Hatch Speaks on Netanyahu Visit, Iran Threat
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin G. Hatch, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, spoke on the Senate Floor today about the importance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address tomorrow, and the need to recognize the serious threat Iran presents to the security of both Israel and the United States.
An excerpt
To demonstrate our solidarity with Israel, Congress should complement the Prime Minister’s address with the threat of sanctions that properly secure both of our countries against the Iranian threat.
We must achieve three common sense objectives:
First, we must prevent Iran from developing or otherwise acquiring nuclear weapons.
Second, we should reaffirm that Iran does not have an inherent right to enrichment and reprocessing capabilities and technologies under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Third, we must seek to reverse the development of Iran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure and bring Iran into compliance with all United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
The full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below
Mme. President, Israel—our strongest and most loyal ally in the Middle East—faces a growing existential threat under the specter of a nuclear Iran. I am deeply troubled that our President’s solution won’t work. Rather than enforcing punitive measures that would stem Iran’s nuclear progress, this Administration has opted for a policy of conciliation that does nothing to curb this growing threat. All the while, the threat to Israel grows stronger every day.
Now more than ever, the Congress and the American people must stand with our Israeli allies to ensure the safety and security not only of our two nations, but the Middle East as a whole. Far from being a political stunt, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress provides our nation with a vital opportunity to demonstrate our unyielding resolve to stand with Israel and oppose Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
To demonstrate our solidarity with Israel, Congress should complement the Prime Minister’s address with the threat of sanctions that properly secure both of our countries against the Iranian threat. We must achieve three common sense objectives: First, we must prevent Iran from developing or otherwise acquiring nuclear weapons.
Second, we should reaffirm that Iran does not have an inherent right to enrichment and reprocessing capabilities and technologies under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Third, we must seek to reverse the development of Iran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure and bring Iran into compliance with all United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
President Obama has failed to realize that Iran poses a serious threat to the West, and our response to that threat must be equally serious. Prime Minister Netanyahu understands the precariousness of the current situation, and he is doing his best to help us here in the United States understand. As the Prime Minister stated: “I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the president, but because I must fulfill my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country.”
The Prime Minister has good reason to be concerned. According to the Heritage Foundation, since the Obama Administration began to relax sanctions after an interim agreement, was implemented, the Iranian economy grew by an estimated 4.6 percent in the first quarter of Iran’s calendar year, the first time it has grown after shrinking for the last two years under sanctions.
As we lose leverage by relaxing sanctions, we must not forget the most likely reason Iran agreed to negotiations in the first place was economic restrictions. When the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, is reported to have said after the announcement of the Joint Plan of Action that “the centrifuges are spinning and will never stop” should we curtail our efforts in the one area which appears to give Iran pause?
Times such as these require strength of purpose, which is why we should clearly lay out a series of sanctions that will be imposed on Iran if negotiations fail. We should provide for short but reasonable periods of time for Congress, and, therefore, the American people, to consider if the Obama Administration has succeeded in accomplishing the three objectives necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Tomorrow, the Congress will hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu. In his message, he will tell us how we, together, can confront the growing Iranian threat. This is the time to rally as one nation with one of our strongest allies to ensure a safe and secure world.
